Latest electronic game gets players off Mom's couch

On one hand, the newest video game craze encourages exercise.

On the other, it can have dangerous consequences.

If you see someone staring at their screen and walking down the street, they may be playing a new "augmented reality" game.

The game, Pokemon Go, has exploded in popularity since it was released Wednesday, sending players out into the real world to find online "pocket monsters" -- Pokemon. Visit a "Pokestop" to stock up on Pokeballs, to throw at Pokemon to capture them for training at "gyms" where Pokemon battle one another for supremacy.

Game players who formerly spent time in the safety of their mother's basement are encountering real-world hazards.

Missouri police say four teens used Pokemon Go to lure victims to a location and rob them.

In Riverton, Wyo., Shayla Wiggens was hunting a virtual creature when she found a man's body in the Wind River. Authorities believe he died of an accidental drowning.

Other incidents have been less dramatic: a skateboarder who crashed while staring at his phone while cruising for creatures, twisted ankles, walking into trees and revolving doors. Police in Darwin, Australia, have warned players not to enter their station to earn pokeballs -- it's not necessary to actually go inside to get them, the agency says on its Facebook page.

Programmers have tried to make the game as safe as possible -- you can't hatch digital eggs while driving, for instance. That requires slower in-person movement in the real world; moving more than 20 mph negates any captures.

One player even got around that by strapping his phone to a drone to chase Pokemon characters without leaving his home.

Like any fad, Pokemon Go is likely to fade as it's replaced by the next big thing.

It does show, however, that a video game doesn't have to turn its users into couch potatoes.